Truckers May Back Bill to Limit Idling Time ; State House: The Measure Would Hold Diesel Trucks and Some Gas Trucks to Five Minutes Per Hour.

By PAUL CARRIER Staff Writer —

A trade group for the trucking industry may join environmentalists in backing a bill to limit idling by commercial trucks and buses, as supporters try to make Maine the 14th state to penalize drivers who leave their engines running while they are parked.

The bill “is something we very well may support as long as it stays in its current format,” said Dale Hannington of the Maine Motor Transport Association.

That would align truckers with the Natural Resources Council of Maine, which backs Rep. Jon Hinck’s effort to restrict idling of non- passenger vehicles.

The bill filed by Hinck, a Portland Democrat, essentially would limit idling to five minutes per hour for diesel-powered commercial trucks and some vehicles that run on gasoline. “Private passenger vehicles,” such as cars, pickup trucks and minivans, would not be covered.

The bill says companies that are served by diesel trucks “may not cause a vehicle to idle for a period longer than 30 minutes while waiting to load or unload at that location.”

Environmentalists and the American Lung Association of Maine see the bill as a way to reduce pollution and save energy. Hannington said his association is inclined to support it because it includes exemptions that should make it work for truckers.

The bill would allow an occupied commercial truck to idle for longer than five minutes to heat or cool while the driver waits to load or unload. It also includes exemptions for certain circumstances, such as traffic jams, when an engine must run to operate mixing or other equipment, or when a driver cools or heats a sleeper berth in a truck.

Buses could be idled for as long as 15 minutes per hour to “maintain passenger comfort while non-driver passengers are on board,” the bill says. Emergency vehicles could run as long as necessary “while in an emergency or training mode,” but not simply for the convenience of the driver.

“I don’t believe in government protecting people against themselves,” Hinck said, but in this case, the government has a legitimate role to play because reducing engine idling is “good for all of us.”

Hinck said the limits would help to protect public health in a state with high asthma rates, reduce greenhouse gases, and conserve fuel in an era of high prices and heavy reliance on foreign suppliers.

He said some people probably would prefer that the limits apply to passenger cars and trucks as well, but “we may not have reached the point” where an all-inclusive law would get public support.

At least one Maine community, Bar Harbor, already has an ordinance to restrict idling. Some municipalities, including Portland, as well as various school districts, have idling policies for their fleets. Oakhurst Dairy’s trucks are programmed to shut off after idling for five minutes, according to the fleet manager, David Green.

The state Department of Transportation installed signs at ferry terminals last year encouraging drivers to shut off their engines. Similar signs are being installed at park-and-ride facilities operated by the Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority. Portland has signs outside Merrill Auditorium and the Portland Expo asking motorists not to idle their vehicles.

Unlike those efforts, the restrictions under review by the Legislature would be mandatory, and would apply statewide.

A driver would get a warning for the first violation of the five- minute rule, followed by $150 fines for subsequent violations. A business would get a warning for the first violation of the 30- minute rule, followed by $500 fines for subsequent offenses.

Two leading business groups, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the Portland Regional Chamber, have taken no position on the bill. Neither has the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, although the executive director of that group said he has personal reservations.

“It would be difficult to enforce” such a law because police have plenty to do and it is impractical for them to time idling vehicles, said Robert Schwartz, executive director of the police chiefs’ association.

Dana Reed, the town manager in Bar Harbor, said he may propose that the town replace its five-minute limit with a flat prohibition because it is impractical for police officers to time idling vehicles.

Hinck said his bill, which is based on model legislation drafted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, uses a five-minute limit because some vehicles may need to be warmed up that long.

Thirteen states have laws banning or limiting idling, according to the American Transportation Research Institute, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Dozens of municipalities and counties across the country have local or regional laws.

The Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the bill at 1 p.m. Tuesday in Room 214 of the Cross State Office Building in Augusta.

Staff Writer Paul Carrier can be contacted at 622-7511 or at:

pcarrier@pressherald.com

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